This week, Texas A&M University has been thrust into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons after disturbing audio clips surrounding the teaching of radical gender ideology.
A viral video shows a professor ejecting a student from class for objecting to LGBT ideology being forced into the curriculum. Instead of defending the student and affirming the rights of Texans who fund this institution, or complying with executive orders from both Governor Abbott and President Trump and legislation aimed at eradicating such curriculum, university leadership doubled down.
What Happened at Texas A&M
The situation began when a student challenged her professor for promoting radical gender ideology in a children’s literature class. The student cited President Donald Trump’s executive order declaring that federal funds should not be used to promote such ideology, and she made clear that it violated her Christian beliefs. Instead of respecting her objections, the professor dismissed her, telling her bluntly that “it’s time for you to leave.”
Later, when the student appealed to Texas A&M President Mark Welsh, he dismissed her concerns as “picking a fight.” Audio recordings have since surfaced of Welsh defending taxpayer-funded LGBT coursework, claiming, “There are LGBTQ studies here… have been for a long time… there is a professional reason to teach some of these courses.”
Welsh, in this instance, ended up turning heel and fired the professor. He has also instructed department heads to conduct an audit of their course materials.
Meanwhile, instructional materials from A&M’s “Children’s Literature” course reveal just how deep the indoctrination runs. Students are required to study the so-called “Gender Unicorn,” a graphic aimed at children as young as three, teaching them about gender identity, expression, and sexuality. Required readings include My Gay Agenda: Embodying Intersectionality in Children’s Literature Scholarship — explicitly reframing the “gay agenda” for young audiences.
This debacle is still ongoing, and begs the questions: Just how deep does this run? Why weren’t these courses and course materials audited after direction and orders from the State legislature, Governor, and President given to Universities across the state and across the nation?
Mixed Messages From Leadership
After previously defending the course, Welsh ended up letting the professor go after backlash from Texans across the state. Welsh also announced an audit of course materials for all department heads. Chancellor Hegar was quick to commend these actions and announced that the audit would be extended throughout the A&M ecosystem. While these new updates are welcome, they do not reflect Welsh’s history of promoting DEI.
What Does This Have to Do With Texans’ Wallets?
Texans are struggling under the weight of skyrocketing property taxes and an ever-increasing cost of living. Families across this state work hard, only to see their tax dollars diverted to universities that have abandoned their core mission of education in favor of woke political agendas.
When our public universities use the taxpayers as piggy-banks to subsidize the indoctrination of students with radical gender ideology, it’s more than an attack on our values, it’s an attack on the taxpayer. Every dollar that goes toward pushing the “Gender Unicorn” is a dollar taken from a Texas family trying to keep food on the table, pay the mortgage, or save for their own children’s education.
The Path Forward
Texans for Fiscal Responsibility has long argued that the State should stop pouring money into institutions that not only reject but attack the values of the very taxpayers who fund them. The controversy at Texas A&M is just the latest piece of evidence that higher education has become a taxpayer-funded weapon of the woke Left.
It is time for Texas lawmakers to stand up and say enough is enough. If universities like Texas A&M continue to push radical, woke indoctrination, then Texans must demand bold action:
- Defund programs that push woke, anti-Texan agendas
- Audit every university course to ensure taxpayer funds are used for education, not indoctrination.
- Hold university leaders accountable for allowing taxpayer dollars to be misused.
Texans deserve better. Our tax dollars should not be used to undermine our values, attack our children, and advance a woke agenda. It’s time to end the weaponization of higher education and return fiscal responsibility to Texas’ institutions of learning.
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